Carbon nanohorn supported liposome nanoparticles as a novel carrier for anti- nicotine vaccine

Yun Hu,1Ç? Hong Zheng,1 Wei Huang,1 Sabina de Villiers,2,3 Paul Pentel,2 Jianfei Zhang,4 Harry Dorn,4
Marion Ehrich,5 Chenming Zhang1
1. Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
2. Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation, Minneapolis, MN 55404
3. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
4. Department of Chemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
5. Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Ç?Presenting author
Email addresses:
Yun Hu: hyun86@vt.edu
Hong Zheng: hong6@vt.edu
Wei Huang: huangwei1616@yahoo.com Sabina de Villiers: sabina@devilliers.se Paul Pentel: pentel@umn.edu
Jianfei Zhang: jfzhang@vt.edu
Harry Dorn: hdorn@vt.edu Marion Ehrich: marion@vt.edu Chenming Zhang: cmzhang@vt.edu
Nicotine vaccine has shown tremendous promise in fighting against nicotine addiction. A couple of nicotine vaccines delivered by different types of carriers have been investigated, among which liposomes based nicotine vaccine induced high titers of antibodies against nicotine. Due to its long circulation time, potent adjuvant effect, and high antigen loading capacity, liposomes can promote immune response to otherwise poorly immunogenic antigens. However, one of the main limitations of liposomes is that they are intrinsically unstable and often have a tendency to flocculate. In this study, novel negatively charged (anionic) carbon single-walled nanohorns were used as a scaffold, providing support to the soft body of cationic liposomes. This support prevented the liposomes from precipitation or flocculation. Subsequently, a novel nicotine vaccine delivered by this nanohorn supported liposome has been successfully developed. The nano-vaccine induced strong, anti-nicotine antibody responses in mice when administrated subcutaneously, leading to production of high titer and high affinity anti- nicotine antibodies for treatment of nicotine dependence. Furthermore, the safety evaluation of this nano-vaccine in mice revealed no apparent toxicity.